TWELVE SAINTS COMPETE IN NEW ENGLAND TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
May 9, 2011
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Twelve student-athletes represented Emmanuel College this weekend at the Division III New England Championships, hosted by MIT on Friday and Saturday. Two individual athletes, as well as both the men's and women's 4x400 meter relay teams earned All-New England honors with their top-eight finishes this weekend. Eight Emmanuel athletes will now advance to compete in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships on May 19th.
Two Saints competed in field events on Friday evening. Junior Kathleen King (South Easton, Mass.) qualified and competed in the discus. Her best throw was 99'3'', placing her 22nd. Freshman Lauren Atkins (Saugus, Mass.) was featured in the long jump. Atkins jumped a distance of 16''2.25" and placed 18th out of her 27 competitors.
The Saturday morning events got underway with beautiful weather in place. Senior Irene Limlengco (Brookline, Mass.) and freshman Kelly Ulf (Lunenburg, Mass.) took 6th and 8th place, respectively, in the high jump. Both cleared heights of 5 ' 1/4 ". Their top-eight finishes earned the duo All-New England honors.
Junior program record holder Shannon McCabe (Charlestown, R.I.) ran the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.21, placing her 25th overall. Atkins began her second day of competition with the 100-meters. The rookie ran a time of 12.82 and placed 13th out of 25. Ulf also kicked off her second day of competition, competing in the triple jump. Her best jump of the day was 33'03" and placed her 19th overall.
Junior sprinter Katasi Kulubya (Anaheim, Calif.) ran her personal best and set a new Emmanuel record in the 400-meters with a time of 59.31. Her record-setting time placed her 9th overall. Seniors Andrew Heath (Stamford, Conn.) and Ben Cleveland (Auburn, Me.) also ran the 400-meters. The two finished with times of 50.13 and 50.83, placing them 12th and 20th, respectively.
With several events in the books, but many more to follow, the clouds began to roll in at MIT. The events were halted for more than two hours, as the athletes waited for the thunder and lightening to clear. When the Championships resumed, Emmanuel's "Freshman of the Year" Nathan Bruno (Lenox, Mass.) set another new program record in the 400-meter hurdles. Bruno's personal best time of 55.86 placed him 12th out of the 21 competing athletes.
Atkins was then able to get her 200-meter run in before the lightening kicked up again. Atkins ran a time of 26.70 and placed 12th in her third of four championship appearances on the weekend. The meet was then delayed for another two-hour stint.
By the time the meet resumed, dusk had fallen and the lights shown on the track at MIT. The women's relays began and Emmanuel's 4x400 team of Kulubya, Nathalie Victoria (Brockton, Mass.), Julie Young (Derry, N.H.) and Atkins ran over three seconds faster than their team-best. The quartet set a new program record with a time of 4:09.04, finished 8th overall and qualified for the ECAC Championships next week.
The men's 4x400 team pulled off the weekend's top finish for Emmanuel. The team, consisting of Heath, Bruno, Eric Donnelly (Halifax, Mass.), and Cleveland smashed their previous best and school record time. The Saints finished 4th out of 14 competing teams with a time of 3:22.28, also qualifying them for ECACs. Both, the men's and women's 4x400m relay teams earned All-New England Honors.
The following Emmanuel athletes have qualifying for the ECAC Championships and will compete on May 19th at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania:
Andrew Heath: 400m and 4x400m relay
Nathan Bruno: 400m Hurdles and 4x 400m relay
Ben Cleveland: 4x400m relay
Eric Donnelly: 4x400m relay
Katasi Kulubya: 400m and 4x400m relay
Nathalie Victoria: 4x400m relay
Julie Young: 4x400m relay
Irene Limlengco: 4x400m relay